Stream: This was the third year in a row we had made an attempt to paddle the SF of Diamond Creek. The first year we had been stopped 3 miles short by snow in the Spring. Last year levels weren't there when we met at 6am in Gasquet, so headed to the SF Chetco instead. This year, flows again looked low as we met in Cave Junction. However Yann was in touch with a friend and got a visual update that the pipe gauge was at a runnable flow (~11.5) for Diamond around 8am. Given this was our third attempt, we decided even if it was low we wanted to check it out.
Where as in years past we had planned to continue through Diamond and into the NF Smith for a long day, this time we were going to take out where most people put in for Diamond Creek. We figured this would reduce stress and increase our chances of success. Since we would pass by the put in first, we decided to drop boats off. The spur had a gnarly little entrance, it took some digging and Barrett gritting his teeth and channeling some optimism to get his F150 up and over.
After dropping the boats off, we started the long drive down the notoriously rough road. Eventually we realized we could hike as fast as we were driving, so decided to leave the cars a mile or so from the take out and walk back up to them at the end to save daylight for paddling.
We weren't too worried about traffic, so set up Yann's changing tent in the middle of the road.
We left the truck, packed into Yann's vehicle and crawled back up the road. We walked the spur road this time, and upon reaching our boats headed cross country down to the creek. The walking was straight forward for the Siskiyous, we had good visibility and followed a ridge down to the creek with minimal bush-whacking.
Planning out our route.
What had looked like a good flow from the top of the ridge, turned out to be a paltry flow once we reached the creek. Enough to float though, so on we went.
Low, but enough water to check it out.
It's both hard and easy to describe some of these small Siskiyou Creeks. They tend to be fairly uniform, ledges and boulders, boulders and ledges. Nothing stands out a whole lot, but they tent to be consistently entertaining and engaging. Nearly everything was read-and-run on this one, though we did scout a few times.
The only downside to the creek, were there were stretches that had dense brush that we imagined could get sketchy at high flows. Other than the brush, it was 3 miles of quality class IV whitewater with no boring sections. If it were closer to home I'd run it regularly.
An example of the brush. While it was manageable at low flows, I'd be apprehensive about it at high water.
There was one quick portage near the end at a bedrock pinch. There was a wire across the creek here, and the log broached in the pinch was hard to see from above.
Our take out was obvious enough, where the road extends down to the creek just above the confluence with the NF of Diamond Creek.
We walked our boats up to a landing, and Ben and Barrett each took a lap down Diamond Falls on the NF. Boaters continuing through the regular Diamond run would have this option as well.
Two from the group walked back up for the truck, while the other three waited. The road only got rowdier down here. We all reasoned if we ever ran the main Diamond run into the NF Smith, we would put on either the SF of Diamond again or the last couple miles of the NF of Diamond to avoid the road.
You might even save time putting in on a tributary if you are running your own shuttle, given how slow that road goes, not to mention the wear and tear and stress.
And of course you'd get more whitewater too.
Flows: I don't know the Smith drainage all that well flow-wise so take my recommendation with a grain of salt. From my experience in the area, I'd imagine 10,000 in the Smith @ Jedediah is minimum. Or 12' on the NF Smith pipe gauge. 15,000-20,000 might be a good range to shoot for, or 13-14' on the pipe with some wiggle room. High water would be oh-so-fun, but the brush would worry me.
Our flow
Access: The road is gnarly, don't even bother trying with a Subaru. Get a truck with clearance and preferably 4wd too. Most people would choose to hire Bearfoot Brad (707-457-3365) out of Gasquet to run your shuttle and continue down through the mainsteam of Diamond and NF Smith back to Gasquet for almost 20 miles of boating. The hike and SF of Diamond took under 3 hours for us, we spent am similar amount of time driving on the Diamond road. So if you go the SF route, it will probably only take 2 hours longer than if you drove to the NF/SF Diamond confluence with the added benefit of additional whitewater.
Do some mapwork before heading in there, and cache the map to your phone. The spur road leading to the hike starts here: 41.996418, -123.865714
Good directions to the NF/SF Diamond confluence we used as a take out are here. The left turn onto the spur is 2.6 miles after turning off 4402 onto what he describes as a "very small and shitty looking road", called Wimer Road on most maps.
The cross-country portion of the hike starts here: 41.990895, -123.863165. Put in is here 41.983462, -123.861375
Click on map to increase resolution.
The hike was pretty straight forward, at the end of the spur road it forks. We went right, then took the path of least resistance headed downstream towards the canyon rim. Once we got to the point where we could see into the canyon, the route down a nose of land was obvious.
A trip to the Siskiyous doesn't feel complete without some Darlingtonia Californica. The South Fork of Diamond's river-right canyon rim is in the background.
Notes: While there is fun whitewater on this run, it is not for everyone who would be paddling Diamond Creek. There is a lot of class IV whitewater on this creek, at high water expect a class V experience. And really at any flow class V competence is probably needed. The hike in is not bad, but it does descent about 650' and might be daunting for boaters who are not accustomed to hiking with their boat. While the regular Diamond run through the NF Smith is pretty splash and giggle, the SF of Diamond is a more serious run. The creek bed is small and there is brush and wood in the channel, requiring good decision making and group cohesion. Large groups are a bad idea. While I would personally never drive down to put in at the normal Diamond put in, with the argument that the tributaries give you more whitewater for less driving, there are no doubt others would would not enjoy the extra challenges the tributaries deliver. Make the choice that is right for you.
-jacob
